PHOTOS: 2010 Oscar Nominations Photos - ABC News ABC News − 2010 Oscar Nominations Meryl Streep is nominated for her role as chef extraordinaire Julia Child in "Julie and Julia." "Julia, that spirit was very like my mother's spirit," Streep told ABC "World News" anchor Diane Sawyer. "Joie de vivre. She had it. And a great sense of fun and [an] infectious ability to bring people along in whatever adventure she cared to take charge of." Streep recently won the Golden Globe in the best actress category for her role as Julia. Columbia Pictures 2010 Oscar Nominations Meryl Streep is nominated for her role as chef extraordinaire Julia Child in "Julie and Julia." "Julia, that spirit was very like my mother's spirit," Streep told ABC "World News" anchor Diane Sawyer. "Joie de vivre. She had it. And a great sense of fun and [an] infectious ability to bring people along in whatever adventure she cared to take charge of." Streep recently won the Golden Globe in the best actress category for her role as Julia.

Columbia Pictures 2010 Oscar Nominations Penelope Cruz showed off her acrobatic skills in the film "Nine," a role that garnered her an Oscar nomination in the best supporting actress category. Cruz plays one of many love interests of actor Daniel Day-Lewis in the musical. The Weinstein Company, via AP 2010 Oscar Nominations Gabourey Sidibe was new to the big screen when she debuted in "Precious," but has already garnered worldwide praise, and now an Oscar nomination for her role in the film as Claireece Precious Jones. Director Lee Daniels is also nominated in the best director category. Lionsgate 2010 Oscar Nominations Sandra Bullock is nominated in the best actress category for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy in "The Blind Side." Bullock won her first Golden Globe for the role. This is her first Oscar nomination. The film is also nominated in the best film category. According to Variety, "The Blind Side" is the first film with a female lead to surpass the $200 million mark at the box office. Warner Bros. 2010 Oscar Nominations Are In!

The sleeper science fiction thriller "District 9," with its relatively unknown cast and low production budget, was included among the 10 films for best picture. Sony 2010 Oscar Nominations Are In! Maggie Gyllenhaal received her first Oscar nomination as a supporting actress in "Crazy Heart." Her co-star Jeff Bridges was also nominated for best actor. Fox Searchlight Pictures 2010 Oscar Nominations Are In! The Coen Brothers dark comedy "A Serious Man" is nominated in the best film category. The film stars Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Jewish professor who is grappling with life's meaning. Actors Fred Melamed and Sari Lennick are shown in a scene from the film. Wilson Webb/Focus Features, via AP 2010 Oscar Nominations Are In! At age 80, Christopher Plummer is enjoying one of the best years of his career. The veteran actor received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his performance as Tolstoy in "The Last Station." He was nominated in the same category for a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award.

Sony 2010 Oscar Nominations Helen Mirren is nominated for her riveting performance as Countess Sofya in "The Last Station." Sofya is the wife of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer). Mirren shared some tips for the red carpet with Time magazine. "You have got to be prepared to answer the most obvious question with grace and as if you've never been asked that before. You get 'How are you feeling?' every time. But you have to answer it as if you have never heard it before. Be prepared. Have a lot of energy. Enjoy it. Feel open and warm. And you'll be fine." Warner Bros. 2010 Oscar Nominations Breakout actress Carey Mulligan dazzled audiences with her role in "An Education." She is nominated in the best actress category. "She's probably as good as Kate Winslet and even Helen Mirren," Entertainment Weekly senior writer Dave Phillips told ABCNews.com. Sony Pictures 2010 Oscar Nominations Mo'Nique stunned audiences in her Golden Globe-winning role as monstrous mother Mary Lee Johnston in "Precious." Now the talk show host-comedian-actress has been given her shot at an Oscar.

Lionsgate 2010 Oscar Nominations Anna Kendrick is nominated for her role as Natalie Keener in "Up in the Air." Kendrick has also starred in "Rocket Science" and "Twilight." Paramount 2010 Oscar Nominations Vera Farmiga is also nominated in the best actress category for "Up in the Air." Farmiga has also starred in "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas," "The Departed" and "Orphan." Paramount 2010 Oscar Nominations "Avatar's" worldwide appeal has been record-breaking with $2 billion at the box office, along with its nominations. The James Cameron production is nominated for best film and best director. 20th Century Fox, via AP Photo 2010 Oscar Nominations "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" is nominated in the best film category. The heart-wrenching tale of a young girl raised in an abusive household highlights the acting caliber of many actresses, including Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton and Mariah Carey.

Lionsgate 2010 Oscar Nominations Quentin Tarantino's Nazi-hunting dark comedy "Inglourious Basterds" received a best film and best director nomination. Brad Pitt and Eli Roth are shown in this scene from the film. Francois Duhamel/The Weinstein Co., via /AP Photo 2010 Oscar Nominations Jeremy Renner is shown in a scene from the film "The Hurt Locker," where his nominated in the best actor category. The film is also nominated for best film, and Kathryn Bigelow is nominated in the best director category. The movie centers on an Army bomb squad in Baghdad that must detonate bombs before it's too late. AP Photo 2010 Oscar Nominations Animated characters Russell, left, and Carl Fredricksen are shown in a scene from the film "Up," which is nominated in the best film category. Disney/Pixar, via AP 2010 Oscar Nominations Actor Christoph Waltz left a lasting impression on audiences with his role as Nazi hunter Col.

Hans Landa in "Inglourious Basterds." Film critic Roger Ebert said, "Waltz deserves an Oscar nomination to go with his best actor award from Cannes. He creates a character unlike any Nazi -- indeed, anyone at all -- I've seen in a movie: evil, sardonic, ironic, mannered, absurd." Ebert's prediction was not far off; Waltz is nominated for his role as Landa. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images 2010 Oscar Nominations Stanley Tucci is nominated as best supporting actor in "The Lovely Bones." Tucci plays a pedophile who murders a 14-year-old in the film. In preparing for the film, Tucci told ABC News' Peter Travers he was resistant to playing the role at first because of the horrific nature of his character. Paramount 2010 Oscar Nominations Jeff Bridges received his first Golden Globe for his role as washed-up country singer Bad Blake in "Crazy Heart," and he's nominated for an Oscar.

Lorey Sebastian/Fox Searchlight, via AP Photo 2010 Oscar Nominations George Clooney stars as company downsizer Ryan Bingham in "Up in the Air," which is nominated in the best film category, while Clooney is nominated for best actor. Jason Reitman is nominated in the best director category. Paramount 2010 Oscar Nominations Colin Firth plays British professor George Falconer in Tom Ford's "A Single Man." Firth received a nomination in the best actor category. The film is also nominated in the best film category. "I can't remember when I was last carrying a film. To have a man's story entrusted to me has been very rare. It's in your hands. You have three wonderful co-stars, but basically George is yours for the day," Firth told Reuters.

Weinstein Company Matt Damon is nominated for best supporting actor as Francois Pienaar in "Invictus." Keith Bernstein/Warner Bros., via AP 2010 Oscar Nominations Morgan Freeman is nominated in the best actor category for his role as Nelson Mandela in "Invictus." Lionel Cironneau/Warner Bros., via AP 2010 Oscar Nominations Princess Tiana, voiced by Anika Noni Rose, right, is shown with frog Prince Naveen, voiced by Bruno Campos, in a scene from the Oscar-nominated animated film, "The Princess and the Frog." Disney, via AP 2010 Oscar Nominations "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," is nominated in the best animated film category. The film is based on the Judi Barrett book first published in 1979. Sony PicturesHandout 2010 Oscar Nominations Director Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is nominated in the best animated film category. "Fox" was adapted from Roald Dahl's beloved children's book. Fox Searchlight, via AP Photo 2010 Oscar Nominations Are In!

Coraline Oscars 2010: Leigh Anne Tuohy interview - Telegraph Oscars 2010: Leigh Anne Tuohy interview The woman whose heart-warming story inspired Oscar favourite The Blind Side. By Helena de Bertodano 2:53PM GMT 05 Mar 2010 It was the day before Thanksgiving and snow was beginning to fall as Leigh Anne Tuohy and her husband, Sean, drove down Shady Grove Road towards their home, a beautiful neoclassical house in one of the smartest residential areas of Memphis. Ahead of them on the footpath they were puzzled to see Michael Oher, a teenage classmate of their daughter, walking towards Briarcrest, the local school. ‘I was surprised because I knew the school was shut for the Thanksgiving holiday,’ says Leigh Anne, sitting in the living room of her home in front of a roaring fire. ‘Also – despite the weather – the kid was wearing just a T-shirt and cut-off jeans.’ So she pulled up alongside him and called out: ‘Where are you going?’ He muttered something about basketball practice. ‘Michael, you don’t have basketball practice,’ Sean said.

Related Articles Oscar predictions 2010: Tim Robey 04 Mar 2010 ‘I know,’ said Michael, a homeless African American boy whom Briarcrest, a staunchly Christian school, had recently taken under its wing, ‘but it’s warm in that gym.’ As they drove off, Sean glanced over at Leigh Anne and saw tears pouring down her face. It was at that point he realised that their lives were about to change forever. ‘My wife moves fast,’ chuckles Sean, an affable foil to his flinty wife. A few weeks later Leigh Anne had bought Michael, then 16, some new clothes and had persuaded him to move temporarily into the family home with their daughter, Collins, then also 16, and Sean jnr, their nine-year-old son known to everyone as SJ. He slept on the sofa in the living room and at first it was a struggle: the 25-stone, 6ft 4in teenager hardly uttered a word but the family found themselves hoping he would stay: ‘He is hard not to fall in love with,’ says Collins, who now thinks of him as a twin brother.

‘He has a very capturing personality.’ The family eventually became the legal guardians of Michael, one of 13 children of a crack-addict mother. He never knew his father, who had been murdered, his body thrown off a bridge. His siblings were scattered around, and as a child Michael moved around foster homes and lived on the streets. Over the course of nine years, he had attended 11 different schools, often missing weeks at a time. Now, seven years after enrolling at Briarcrest, Michael has graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in criminal justice and is a professional football player with the Baltimore Ravens and a millionaire in his own right. His extraordinary story has been made into a movie, The Blind Side, and Sandra Bullock has been nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne. Sean plays down his family’s role in helping Michael: ‘He was a great kid before we found him and we just didn’t mess him up.

We gave him an environment so that he could become who he was supposed to be.’ When Leigh Anne opens the door to her house in this peaceful Memphis cul-de-sac, she has perfectly highlighted hair, heavy make-up, lots of jewellery and is dressed in a purple polo neck (purple is the Ravens’ team colour) with black trousers and spike-heeled black boots. She looks like a high-maintenance Barbie doll. But the appearance is misleading: it does not take long in her company to realise that she is a tough, intelligent woman who does not – as she bluntly puts it – give a ‘rat’s a---’ what anyone else thinks of her. ‘Leigh Anne eliminates the grey areas in life,’ says Sean, who made his fortune through the 80 fast food restaurants he owns, including the local Taco Bell franchise. ‘Everybody, including me, is afraid of her.’ Leigh Anne – the daughter of a US marshal so racist that he pulled her out of her school when African American children were allowed to enrol in 1973 – leads me through a dining room with leopard-print chairs to an elegant sitting room that looks out over a turquoise swimming pool. This is the room where Michael first stayed.

‘He ruined my $10,000 couch,’ Leigh Anne says, laughing. The contrast with Hurt Village – where Michael spent his early years – could not be more acute. An ugly, crime-ridden housing project which has since been torn down, the surrounding area remains as rough as ever. It is only a 20-minute drive from the Tuohy household but it is another world entirely. It takes me two days to persuade anyone to take me there. The first taxi driver I ask tells me it doesn’t matter how much I offer to pay him, he is not driving me there: ‘They’ll kill us both and take everything we have, even our shoes.’ Leigh Anne tells me her daughter will drive me through the area but we are on no account to get out of the car. Collins, an equally glamorous 23-year-old who drives a silver SUV with ‘Ole Miss’ on the number plate, is game. ‘I used to drive Michael down here when he needed a haircut because he only liked this one barber down here.’ Hurt Village itself is now just a field of overgrown grass behind a chain-link fence with a locked gate and security code.

Next to the field, a single derelict apartment block remains standing – Collins says that the barracks-style building is just like the one Michael grew up in. The area feels semi-abandoned. Most of the units are now boarded up, the few remaining windows are smashed and the concrete walls are covered in graffiti. ‘Drug Dealers Evicted Here’, reads a sign posted to one of the doors. The chances of someone who grew up in this wasteland ever making anything of their lives are negligible. Most young African American males in this area end up either in jail or the morgue. It was not Michael’s idea to go to Briarcrest: he just happened to be staying with a friend, Steven, whose dying grandmother had one wish – to get her grandson a Christian education. Steven’s father, Big Tony, took the wish seriously and decided that if he was taking his son on a quest for a Christian education, he might as well take Michael, too. Big Tony chose Briarcrest for two reasons – firstly, he vaguely knew the basketball coach. And secondly, there can be no doubting the school’s Christian mission.

Outside the main entrance of the building – an unprepossessing concrete block – is the inscription in huge letters: ‘With men this is impossible; with God all things are possible’. Attended almost exclusively by white kids from affluent families, the school went out on a limb for Michael Oher. At first they just accepted Steven, whose academic record was relatively solid. ‘But Michael’s academic credentials were very much in a deficit,’ says the principal, Steve Simpson, today.‘We could tell that he hadn’t been in school consistently.’ At first Simpson denied him admission, but later he reconsidered: ‘He just showed a spark that in my opinion you wouldn’t find in a lot of people.’ Michael was put in the same class as Collins, who had never seen anything quite like him in her life. ‘The first time I saw him,’ Collins says, ‘he was going down the staircase and I was going up it and I just remember thinking with about five steps to go that he was just the largest thing I’d ever seen. The next day I introduced myself and he said “Hey”.

I didn’t get a whole lot of words out of him the first few months.’ When he first moved in, the family noticed how he would hoard everything, particularly food. When they went to Sean’s Taco Bell, Michael would order far more food than he needed. ‘He was in the habit of guaranteeing himself an extra meal,’ Sean told Michael Lewis, the author of The Blind Side, the book on which the film is based. Sean found it ‘exasperating’ finding Mexican pizza in the fridge the next day. So he told Michael that he could get food whenever he wanted it. Michael was incredulous: ‘Really?’ ‘There was such a need for that child to be loved, it would break your heart,’ Leigh Anne says. Slowly, the family discovered that Michael had never had a book read to him in his life, had never celebrated his birthday and had never heard of an ocean or a bird’s nest. The family learnt not to prod him too closely about his background as he had no desire to remember it, let alone talk about it.

‘For the first 16 years of his life, he never had anybody tell him they loved him – there really wasn’t anybody in the world that cared whether Michael lived or died.’ One day, Leigh Anne asked Michael if he would like to move in permanently and Michael replied: ‘I don’t think I want to leave.’ So she went out and bought a bed – the first bed Michael had ever had – and turned the children’s playroom at the top of the house into his room. Collins takes me up to see it: stuffed full of trophies and football memorabilia, everything is immaculate. ‘Michael is a complete neat freak,’ Collins says. Not everyone accepted the Tuohy’s decision to shelter Michael and they had to endure a barrage of negative comments. ‘Everybody’s biggest hang-up was that I brought a black kid into the house the same age as my daughter,’ Leigh Anne says.

‘I’m like: “I’m looking in your windows right now and you’ve got a little housekeeping you could do, so don’t you be sitting there worrying about what’s going on under my roof when you’ve got kids out smoking dope, having sex, whatever”.’ Whatever he achieves in life, Leigh Anne worries that Michael will primarily be remembered for his unusual background. ‘He’ll always be the black kid that lived with the white family.’ ‘And he is way so much more than that,’ Collins interjects. At first, school was a huge struggle for Michael. As Simpson says: ‘He was like the little locomotive: “I think I can, I think I can” and he just kept trying. 'It took an extraordinary effort and commitment on his part. He came early and stayed late, he spent spare time with teachers and others that helped him and I just don’t know of very many other students that would have that drive – especially with all the social and family deficits that Michael had.’ I meet SJ Tuohy, now 16, at Briarcrest, where he coaches a second-grade basketball team in the evenings.

He is a remarkably mature and well-adjusted 16 year-old and says he is very close to Michael. ‘I thought of him as my brother even before he was my brother.’ SJ plays basketball for the school and says he has been taunted since the release of the movie: ‘The other day during a match, they were shouting: “Hey dude, get your dad to adopt a point guard because you suck.” They just see me as that idiot from the movie – I’m glad it’s me, not someone who can’t handle it. I actually think it’s quite funny.’ When The Blind Side was released in the United States last November, it became a sudden – and unexpected – hit. The modestly budgeted film has so far grossed about $250 million, much of it thanks to Bullock’s winning performance. I ask Leigh Anne how it feels to have her life on the big screen.

‘You don’t go to bed and think, “I’m going to wake up tomorrow and somebody is going to play me in a movie.” 'I don’t think there is anything special about me – in fact, I think the reason the movie has had such a profound impact is because people leave the movie thinking that they could do the same. And if you don’t feel that, then you’re a shallow person in my opinion.’ I tell Leigh Anne that I have read a movie review that describes her as a ‘gun-toting Republican Christian whirlwind of philanthropic good, around which everything spins’. She snorts: ‘I’m very thick-skinned. Some people have tried to make this something it’s not – black/white, rich/poor – why do they have to label it? But I don’t care, it’s partly true – I do tend to vote Republican and I do carry a gun wherever I go.’ What sort of gun? ‘I have a bunch of them,’ Leigh Anne says dismissively. ‘Once, when I was driving Sandra, she asked me if it was true I carried a gun and I said yeah and opened up the console and took out a gun.

And she goes: “Oh dear God, I’ve gotta call Jesse [her husband], he’ll go nuts”.’ Leigh Anne describes the first day Sandra Bullock came to her house when the actress was still trying to decide whether to take on the role. Instead of feeling nervous herself she noticed that Bullock was uneasy. ‘I said, “Why are you nervous?” and she said, “I don’t know but I am”. I said, “Well it’s fine, you either like me or you don’t like me. So come in and analyse me or whatever it is you want to do and then go and figure it out.” She said, “OK I’ll do the role” and I said, “Well that was easy”.’ After the initial nerves, Leigh Anne says they hit it off immediately and still keep in touch. ‘Sandy calls and we giggle. I think it was easy for her to play me – she’s very spunky and she has fallen right in with the family. We thrive on normalcy in this family and we don’t let her be anything but normal.’ As for Michael, Leigh Anne says he is unaffected by his sudden fame and fortune.

He now spends most of his time in Baltimore but has just been home for a week’s visit. During the two hours I spend with Leigh Anne, Michael texts her three times: ‘So much for his new-found freedom and independence,’ she jokes. ‘If he can’t find something he runs riot and gets up under me.’ The Tuohy family hopes that other people will be inspired to follow their example, not necessarily to provide a home but to help in some way. As Leigh Anne points out: ‘Every community in this world has Michael Ohers wandering around and if they are given the opportunity and the resources, who knows what they can become?’ ‘The Blind Side’ is released on March 26 Start your free 30 day Amazon Prime trial» Bullock wins best actress Oscar for 'Blind Side' | Reuters Mon Mar 8, 2010 | 10:56 AM IST Bullock wins best actress Oscar for 'Blind Side' Sandra Bullock accepts her award for best actress for her role in ''The Blind Side'' during the 82nd Academy Awards in Hollywood, March 7, 2010.

Reuters/Gary Hershorn By Christine Kearney | LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES Sandra Bullock won the best actress Oscar, and her first Academy Award, on Sunday for her role as a suburban mom who takes in a homeless black teen and guides him to a football career in the "The Blind Side." Bullock's Oscar victory marks the high point in a career that has spanned more than 20 years, during which she became an American sweetheart blessed with a natural comic touch that propelled commercially successful films beginning with "Speed" through to last year's box office hit, "The Proposal." "Did I really earn this or did I just wear you down?" Bullock, 45, exclaimed as she took the stage to accept her Oscar, before saluting each of her four contenders. The Washington, D.C.-area native became the queen of romantic comedies with her girl-next-door appeal before a deliberate shift in her career with a small role in the 2005 racial drama "Crash," which she credits as the turning point when she began to take her film career more seriously.

She was an early longshot for an Oscar for "The Blind Side," in which she plays a wealthy, strong-willed Christian woman who takes a black high school player into her family. But her performance as the blond Memphis mother brought her a slew of awards, including a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award that greatly increased her Oscar chances and won over fans with her heartfelt confessions that she had not thought of herself as a good actress. The Oscar she won for "Blind Side" was not the only first for Bullock, as the movie also became the first film with only a female lead ever to surpass $200 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales. Bullock's role in the sports drama is based on a real Tennessee woman, yet the Arlington, Virginia-born actress initially balked at portraying Leigh Anne Tuohy. She only changed her mind after meeting the woman who would eventually help bring her the movie industry's highest honour. It was a long road to critical acclaim for Bullock, the daughter of a German opera singer and voice coach. She spent some of her early childhood in Germany.

She took some time away from acting a few years ago after the success of "Miss Congeniality," but during that break she met motorcycle maker Jesse James, whom she married in 2005, and started saying "no" to mediocre roles. Then came "Crash," the drama about bigotry and race in Los Angeles that won the best picture Oscar in 2006 and showed off Bullock's serious side. Last year was mostly a critical and commercial success for Bullock, although "All About Steve" earned her a Razzie win for the worst actress of 2009. (Reporting by Christine Kearney; Editing by Mary Milliken and Sandra Maler) ADVERTISEMENT Best Actress - 2010 Oscar Nominees 2010 Oscar Nominees Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) The year 2009 was a great one for Sandra Bullock’s career. Not only has she proven she’s a big box-office draw, she’s also proven that she has the acting chops to flip from her often-comfortable comedies to a more dramatic role.

She does just that as Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side, based on the true story of Michael Oher, a homeless and troubled boy who became an All-American football player with the help of Tuohy and her family. Bullock’s take-charge performance of this sassy southern mother steers her in a direction we’ve never really seen from her before, which will definitely win her points with Academy voters. This is Bullock’s first Oscar nomination, and may be the crowning glory of her career. Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) There’s no question that Meryl Streep surpasses expectations in just about every character she plays. In her lengthy career, the 60-year-old actress still proves that she’s a major audience draw and that she’s truly the benchmark against which good actresses are measured. Her 16th Oscar nomination (she’s already a two-time Oscar winner) is for a role that only Streep was meant to play: Julia Child. From Julia Child’s voice to her mannerisms to her quirky charm, Streep nailed this performance of the famous chef by also adding her own spin to it.

There’s no doubt that the Academy loves Streep, but will it be enough to snag her another win? Gabourey Sidibe (Precious: Based On The Novel “Push” By Sapphire) Not only is this Gabourey Sidibe’s first Oscar nom, but it’s her first movie role ever. The 26-year-old Brooklyn native had appeared in school plays, and after a phone call from a friend telling her to audition for director Lee Daniels’ new film, she decided to give it a shot. It’s a good thing she did, because Sidibe got the part and a budding acting career. In Precious, she’s got her character covered both mentally and physically. Sidibe plays a young girl who is sexually abused by her father and mentally abused by her mother (Mo’Nique). But although the movie has gained momentum during awards season, it may not be likely that this newcomer will win. Carey Mulligan (An Education) There’s no disputing that Carey Mulligan is one of 2009’s breakthrough actresses. She’s definitely come a long way from starring opposite Keira Knightley as the giddy Kitty Bennet in Pride & Prejudice.

The smart and charming 24-year-old Brit shines as a young girl (who, like Mulligan herself, has an old soul mixed in with youth) who, on the cusp of her 17th birthday, nixes her plans to go to Oxford after she begins a whirlwind romance with a much older man, David (Peter Sarsgaard). Not only is she tremendously believable, she’s delightful and mesmerizing to watch. Even if she doesn’t take home the gold, Mulligan will be on the Hollywood radar for a long time. Helen Mirren (The Last Station) Nothing seems to slow Helen Mirren down. In fact, she’s getting better with age as she continues to wow audiences and critics with her performances. Her role in The Last Station—adapted from Jay Parini’s novel—is no exception. It’s one of those films that went under the radar but one that has gained momentum. In the film, Mirren plays Sofya, wife of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy, and focuses on his last days. That Mirren should win praise for her acting isn’t shocking.

This revered actress is already an Oscar winner (for The Queen in 2007), and this is her fourth nomination, which makes her a credible top contender in this category. By Toni-Marie Ippolito Bullock is first to win Oscar and Razzie in the same year | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis Bullock is first to win Oscar and Razzie in the same year Shares0 Mon, 8 Mar 2010-11:07am , Los Angeles , Reuters After a 20-year career, Sandra Bullock won the best actress Oscar, her first Academy Award, for her role in The Blind Side. After a 20-year career, Sandra Bullock won the best actress Oscar, her first Academy Award, for her role in The Blind Side. Here are a few details on Bullock: Bullock was born on July 26, 1964, in Arlington, Virginia, the daughter of a German opera singer. Her family moved to the Washington area when she was a teenager and she later enrolled in a university in North Carolina to study acting. She dropped out and moved to New York in 1986 to pursue acting in earnest.

She joined the Neighbourhood Playhouse Theatre, where she took acting classes. She came to prominence as an aspiring country singer in The Thing Called Love. She performed her own song, Heaven Knocking On My Door, and then, as a perky police officer in the big-budget sci-fi film Demolition Man. Her breakthrough film was the 1994 bomb-on-the-bus blockbuster Speed with Keanu Reeves. While You Were Sleeping followed in 1995 winning Bullock a Golden Globe nomination. Other films include In Love and War (1996), 28 Days (2000), and Miss Congeniality (2000) and Two Weeks Notice (2002). Bullock took on more serious roles with Crash (2004), Infamous (2006), and Premonition (2007). In Infamous, she played writer Harper Lee in the Truman Capote drama. Bullock had a career breakthrough with The Blind Side, based on the true-life story of African-American professional football player Michael Oher.

Playing Leigh Anne Tuohy, she stars as a suburban wife and mother who brings Oher (played by Quinton Aaron), a homeless teenager, into her family and helps him overcome his personal challenges. Apart from the best actress Oscar, Bullock won a Golden Globe for her work in the film. Bullock was given the Hollywood spoof Razzie award on Saturday for worst female performance in All About Steve. No performer has ever won a Razzie and an Oscar the same year. TOP Sandra Bullock wins first Oscar as best actress Sandra Bullock wins first Oscar as best actress Mar. 7, 2010 10:12 PM Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- Sandra Bullock paid her dues in Hollywood for more than 20 years. She was rewarded Sunday, winning the best-actress Oscar for playing a tough white Southern woman who adopted a black child in "The Blind Side." Oscars coverage Black actors and the Oscar Bullock had repeatedly said she didn't think she was going to win, although the 45-year-old actress was a heavy favorite. "Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?" she said after accepting the golden statue from Sean Penn.

In the closest race of the acting categories, Bullock was up against Meryl Steep in "Julie & Julia," former winner Helen Mirren in "The Last Station," and breakout stars Gabourey Sidibe of "Precious" and Carey Mulligan of "An Education" for their first-time leading roles. Bullock had already won the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards, and tied Streep at the Broadcast Film Critics awards. Streep also won at the Globes. At 60, Streep is the most nominated actor, male or female, of all time with 16 nods, but she's gone home empty-handed since her last best-actress win for "Sophie's Choice" in 1983. Her other victory was as supporting actress for "Kramer vs. Kramer" in 1980.

Bullock's Oscar triumph came a night after she won worst actress at the Razzies on Saturday for "All About Steve," a romantic comedy flop that quickly vanished at theaters in between her 2009 hits, "The Proposal" and "The Blind Side." Bullock's breakout role came in the 1994 film "Speed." She went on to score box office successes in "While You Were Sleeping" and "Miss Congeniality." But she also appeared in a string of duds before a supporting role in the 2004 movie "Crash" earned Bullock some of the best reviews of her career. Bullock became the first person to win an Oscar and a Razzie on the same weekend. She was the rare A-list star who attended the show that pokes fun at the Oscars by giving out prizes for Hollywood box office failures. In "The Blind Side," Bullock donned a frosted blond wig and a Tennessee twang to play Leigh Anne Tuohy, the real-life adoptive mother of Baltimore Ravens football player Michael Oher.

Bullock wins best actress Oscar for Blind Side | Entertainment | Reuters [ - ] Text [ + ] By Christine Kearney LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sandra Bullock won the best actress Oscar, and her first Academy Award, on Sunday for her role as a suburban mom who takes in a homeless black teen and guides him to a football career in the "The Blind Side." Bullock's Oscar victory marks the high point in a career that has spanned more than 20 years, during which she became an American sweetheart blessed with a natural comic touch that propelled commercially successful films beginning with "Speed" through to last year's box office hit, "The Proposal." "Did I really earn this or did I just wear you down?" Bullock, 45, exclaimed as she took the stage to accept her Oscar, before saluting each of her four contenders. The Washington, D.C.-area native became the queen of romantic comedies with her girl-next-door appeal before a deliberate shift in her career with a small role in the 2005 racial drama "Crash," which she credits as the turning point when she began to take her film career more seriously.

She was an early longshot for an Oscar for "The Blind Side," in which she plays a wealthy, strong-willed Christian woman who takes a black high school player into her family. But her performance as the blond Memphis mother brought her a slew of awards, including a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award that greatly increased her Oscar chances and won over fans with her heartfelt confessions that she had not thought of herself as a good actress. The Oscar she won for "Blind Side" was not the only first for Bullock, as the movie also became the first film with only a female lead ever to surpass $200 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales. Bullock's role in the sports drama is based on a real Tennessee woman, yet the Arlington, Virginia-born actress initially balked at portraying Leigh Anne Tuohy. She only changed her mind after meeting the woman who would eventually help bring her the movie industry's highest honor. Continued...

Academy Awards - "The Blind Side" - Pictures - CBS News "The Blind Side" Next "The Blind Side" A young African American student is taken in by a well-to-do Memphis family who enable him to succeed -- academically and on the football field -- in an inspirational tale based on a true story. The Warner Brothers release was nominated for two Academy Awards including Best Picture, and won the Oscar for Best Actress. By CBSNews.com producer David Morgan Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a ward of the state after being taken from a drug-addicted mother at age seven, is shuttled from one foster home to another, before being given his first real chance in life when he is accepted into a Christian private school in Memphis. The fact that the strapping 16-year-old nicknamed "Big Mike" would make a powerful addition to the school's sports teams is not a small part of the decision. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" A quiet loner, Michael has trouble adjusting to the nearly all-white private school, and has great difficulty with written tests. Most of the teachers have little faith he will succeed. His low G.P.A.

-- barely above zero -- also means he has no chance to try out for sports. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" One of the few students to befriend him is Sean Tuohy Jr., or "SJ" (Jae Head), who encourages Mike to smile. Sean's mother, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), wonders about Mike's family life, and becomes distressed to learn he is basically homeless. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" After encountering Michael on the road late at night with nowhere to go, Leigh Anne invites him to stay in her home, an invitation accepted by the rest of her family, who are used to Leigh Anne's forcefulness. "I've seen that look many times," says her husband, Sean (Tim McGraw). "She's about to get her way." Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" Michael at first appears lost amidst the Tuohys' generosity: he is unsure about joining their meals. But the family easily accepts him, including SJ and his sister Collins (Lily Collins). Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" When Michael returns to the Hurt Village housing project, rife with drug dealers, he discovers his mother's apartment locked up.

His meager ties to his past are broken further. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" The generosity of the Tuohys is questioned in some quarters; both well-meaning friends and racist relatives and neighbors wonder aloud about their opening their home and lives to a child from the projects. But Michael is now part of their family, and Leigh Anne refuses to let Michael waste his opportunities. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" Leigh Anne likens Michael to Ferdinand the Bull, a gentle giant -- a similarity that becomes obvious once he tries out for the school football team. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" When it is apparent the coach is unable to instruct Michael how to use his protective instincts on the field, Leigh Anne steps in (as is her wont) and demonstrates how the other members of the team are stand-ins for his family. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" LEIGH ANNE Tony is your quarterback. You protect his blindside. When you look at him, think of me. How you have my back. How you have his. 'Ompaloompah' here is your tailback. When you look at him, think of SJ and how you'd never let anything or anyone hurt him.

Do you understand me? MICHAEL I suppose they can be on the team, too. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" Mike's performance on the field, once he remembers to use his protective instincts, is exemplary. Video of his plays begins to make the rounds, and college coaches beat a path to their door. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" Oscar-winner and Memphis native Kathy Bates ("Misery," "Titanic," ") plays Miss Sue, the tutor who helps Michael raise his academic scores in order to qualify for a football scholarship. She is also not adverse to helping steer Michael's college choice with colorful tall tales involving body parts. Credit: Warner Bros. "The Blind Side" When the NCAA begins to investigate Mike's choice of college, it sows distrust about the recruitment process, and about the very nature of the Tuohys' efforts to make Mike a legal part of their family. Credit: Warner Bros. John Lee Hancock Director and screenwriter John Lee Hancock is best known for 2002's "The Rookie," another winning true-life sports film starring Dennis Quaid.

He also wrote the screenplays for Clint Eastwood's "A Perfect World" and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," and was creator of the TV Series "L.A. Doctors." Of "The Blind Side," Hancock said, "Sports, specifically football, was the engine that propelled the story forward, but he could have been a dancer or a pianist -- it wouldn't have made any difference. The journey that Michael and the Tuohy family go on is the heart of the movie." Credit: Warner Bros. Sandra Bullock Sandra Bullock was reluctant to play a character based on a living person, until she spent time with Leigh Anne herself: "How can you explain that kind of energy? By the end of one day with Leigh Anne, I was exhausted. She manages to do what she wants to do in the manner she wants to do it. She doesn't care what it takes; she just gets it done her way. All I can say is, if there were more Leigh Anne Tuohys, the world would be a better-run, more harmonious and more productive place...as long as it was by her rules!

"It was terrifying to think of playing her," Bullock said, "but it was a challenge I couldn't say no to." For her performance, Bullock won the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress, and received her first Oscar nomination as well. Credit: Warner Bros. The Two Leigh Annes "They certainly did a good deed in taking in this young man in such a loving and generous way," Bullock said. "But, in turn, he brought out a side of their family that they didn't even realize was missing. The family seemed to have all the success and joy in the world, but when Michael showed up, it was as if he was the final piece to the puzzle." Credit: Warner Bros. Quinton Aaron Quinton Aaron felt some similarities between himself and Oher: "Neither of us knew our fathers growing up. I was the biggest kid in my school; he was the biggest kid in his school. I kept to myself a lot and was more of a quiet, shy kid, and that's pretty much what he was like. I also played some football at one point, but I wasn't good at it." Credit: Warner Bros. Hut!

Prior to filming, Aaron underwent seven weeks of extensive training, and lost more than 100 pounds. "I was determined to do anything and everything required, because if you love what you're doing, you are going to give one hundred and ten percent," he said. Credit: Warner Bros. Tim McGraw Playing Sean Tuohy was country music star Tim McGraw, who has also appeared in the films "Friday Night Lights," "Four Christmases," "Flicka" and "The Kingdom." "We needed an actor who would have a real screen presence opposite the whirlwind that is Leigh Anne," said producer Broderick Johnson. Credit: Warner Bros. Lily Collins Lily Collins (with Bullock at the New York premiere of "The Blind Side," Nov. 17, 2009), was born in England and had already begun an acting career as a toddler before moving at age six to the U.S., where she studied at the Youth Academy for Dramatic Arts. As a journalist she has written columns for Elle (U.K.), Seventeen, Teen Vogue and the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and covered the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign for Nickelodeon.

Her credits include the series "90210." She is currently a student at USC majoring in broadcast journalism. The daughter of Phil Collins, she was chosen 2008 "International Model of the Year" by Spain's Glamour Magazine, and one of 20 women named by Maxim magazine as "The Hottest Daughters of Rock Stars" in 2009. Credit: AP Golden Globes Sandra Bullock poses with the award for best actress in a motion picture drama for "The Blind Side," backstage at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Credit: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill SAG Awards Sandra Bullock poses backstage with the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Leading Actress for her work in "The Blind Side," Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello A Real "Hollywood Ending" An All-American at Ole' Miss, Michael Oher holds up a jersey after being selected as the Baltimore Ravens' first round draft pick at Radio City Music Hall April 25, 2009.

With him are the Tuohy Family (Collins, Sean, Leigh Anne and Sean Jr.), as well as his brother Marcus and his tutor, Sue Mitchell. Credit: AP Photo/Ben Liebenberg Academy Awards Accepting the Oscar for Best Actress for "The Blind Side," Sandra Bullock said, "I would like to thank what this film is about for me, which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from. Those moms and parents never get thanked. I, in particular, failed to thank one. So, if I can take this moment to thank Helga B. for not letting me ride in cars with boys until I was 18 because she was right: I would've done what she said I was gonna do. For making me practice every day when I got home. Piano, ballet, whatever it is I wanted to be. She said to be an artist, you had to practice every day, and for reminding her daughters that there's no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love. So, to that trailblazer, who allowed me to have that . . .

and this." Credit: AP Photo/Chris Carlson Academy Awards Sandra Bullock has her Best Actress Oscar statuette engraved with her name at the Governors Ball following the 82nd Academy Awards Sunday, March 7, 2010. Credit: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello Sandra Bullock - Awards - IMDb Sandra Bullock Showing all 76 wins and 109 nominations Academy Awards, USA Tied with Jamie Lee Curtis for True Lies (1994). African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) BTVA Feature Film Voice Acting Award Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Feature Film As the voice of "Scarlet Overkill". Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Female Star of the Year Golden Schmoes Awards Favorite Celebrity of the Year Gotham Awards Joseph Plateau Award of Honour Jupiter Award Lone Star Film & Television Award Best Actress For the Parting of the Red Sea sequence. Palm Springs International Film Festival All About Steve (2009) Bullock actually showed up at the Razzie ceremony and collected her award in person, and even ...

More Bullock actually showed up at the Razzie ceremony and collected her award in person, and even handed out DVD copies of All About Steve (2009) to all those in attendance. Worst Screen Couple

Question: Who won the Best Actress Oscar in 2010 for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy in the film 'The Blind Side'?
Answer: Sandra Bullock